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The AI isn't the problem
Once upon a time, there was a world where art was a sacred expression of the human experience. People would spend hours, days, and...

John Dodd
May 4, 20238 min read


Dragonmeet: A Tale of Four Venues
Last year, we were looking at the possibility of having to move out of the Novotel as we’d outgrown its capacity, and that hasn’t changed....

John Dodd
Mar 17, 20233 min read


Do not Meddle with Wizards, for they are subtle and quick to anger, or sometimes not subtle at all..
Image from Lil Artsy In advance, I don’t have a dog in this fight, I do conventions, I make events for people to play games at, I don’t...

John Dodd
Jan 11, 20234 min read


We're in the Lowlands, Where else...?
Last weekend, I got a rare opportunity, to actually go to a convention that I wasn’t working or helping at in any official capacity. We...

John Dodd
Aug 30, 20222 min read


The Science of Scenarios for RPG Conventions.
When you’re running RPG’s, you need several things. Players… Rules… Scenario… The first one will come if the second two are there, the...

John Dodd
Jan 19, 20226 min read


A Question of Fear
Photo by Daniel Frank from Pexels Trigger warning for Dentistry going wrong I went to the dentists today, I hate the dentists, but more...

John Dodd
Jan 17, 20225 min read


A Question of Geekery...
Watching the season finale, and indeed the series finale, of The Expanse earlier today, and as I’m watching, a list of the pilots names...

John Dodd
Jan 15, 20223 min read


What would I do with ten minutes at Prime Ministers Questions...?
It’s unlikely anyone has missed the mood of the United Kingdom following yesterdays Prime Ministers Questions, and even less likely that...

John Dodd
Jan 13, 20226 min read


A Question of Weight(s)
Photo by Brett Jordan from Pexels As those who’ve met me will know, I’m not the smallest of people, and in fact, I’m probably amongst the...

John Dodd
Jan 12, 20225 min read


Who do you do this for?
Photo by Anna Tarazevich: When I was 14 I came second in a writing contest and stopped writing till some years later… Overreaction? Not...

John Dodd
Jan 11, 20226 min read


Evolution of Conventions: In Person
Yesterday I talked about the possibilities and challenges afforded by Virtual environments and Hybrid events, today I’m going to be...

John Dodd
Jan 7, 20229 min read


The Evolution of Conventions: Virtual and Hybrid events.
Photo by ICSA from Pexels In advance, I know that a lot of what I'm going to say now is going to cause people to argue with me, I'm fine...

John Dodd
Jan 6, 20228 min read


35 Players, One Wall, Two Tables
As a GM, indeed as any volunteer at a convention, you sometimes find yourself doing things that go over and above the nature of what you...

John Dodd
Jan 5, 20225 min read


Convention Ornithology
Photo by Aleksandar Pasaric from Pexels A long time ago (we were still in the eighties) I read an article in Dragon magazine about...

John Dodd
Jan 4, 20224 min read


Alien: The Musical
Alien: The Musical When you’re running games at conventions, you can’t be sure which way those games are going to go. When you’re...

John Dodd
Jan 3, 20223 min read


Why roleplaying?
So one thing I've been considering for the past few years is why roleplaying. I mean, it takes significantly more effort to get a...

John Dodd
Jan 2, 20223 min read


Yeah, I'm thinking I'm back...
Been a rough couple of years this last few have, mum died in 2017, dad died last year, his greatest fear, of being alone in a hospital. ...

John Dodd
Jan 1, 20223 min read


Book Review: Preparatory Notes for Future Masterpieces
"He killed himself because he loved you, because he believed in the world as you see it." This is but one line of a novel that will...

John Dodd
Apr 15, 20212 min read


Book Review: The Kobalt Dossier
Eric Van Lustbader was one of the first authors that I became seriously enthused with, and my enjoyment of his stories was a high point...

John Dodd
Apr 15, 20212 min read


Book Review: The Helm of Midnight
Serial killers are a difficult subject to get right, it's easy for them to slip into the realm of farce, where their convoluted schemes...

John Dodd
Mar 25, 20212 min read
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